Chapter Summaries

Chu Zeming finished reading the suspicious ancient secret art and led his disciples through the tournament’s second round, where the rules changed to a dangerous Divine Tree trial. As the disciples prepared for the new challenge, Yue Lian tried to leave another box at Chu Zeming’s door and was caught in the act.

• Chu Zeming asked his disciples whether anyone suspicious had approached his room, then watched their matches and coached them from the sidelines.
• The tournament announced that five Nine-Clear Haoran Sect disciples had advanced to the top two hundred and fifty, and He Wuwei replaced the next arena matches with a Divine Tree trial opening in five days.
• Chu Zeming encouraged his disciples to use intelligence, opportunities, and strategy in the trial, and Xuan Mo, Ling Tian, and Wu began to understand his advice.
• The disciples spent the next five days preparing, while Yue Lian visited nearby stalls and shops instead of cultivating.
• Yue Lian tried to leave an incense-scented box at Chu Zeming’s door, but Chu Zeming opened it before he could get away.

Chu Zeming entered the Divine Wood Realm and fought through its dangerous first level to reach an underground passage leading onward. At a cold pool, he encountered Fu Hongchen and Lu Benxiong, who prepared to attack him.

• Chu Zeming repeatedly beat Yue Lian after discovering the bedroom secret arts, until five days passed and the Divine Wood Realm opened.
• He Wuwei gave the gathered cultivators jade talismans that could teleport them to safety, and Fu Hongchen entered the realm first.
• The entrance scattered the cultivators, leaving Chu Zeming alone with Xiao Hei as he crossed the glowing forest and poisonous swamp.
• Chu Zeming found an opened graveyard, killed the monster inside, covered the dead disciple, and used the coffin to reach a cold pool.
• When Chu Zeming approached the Scarlet Scale Fruit, Fu Hongchen attacked him with a Soul-Piercing Cone while Lu Benxiong threatened him.

Chu Zeming drove Fu Hongchen and the other disciples from the second level, then harvested the Scarlet Scale Fruits with the Crimson Serpent Python’s help and rode it to the third level. There, an illusion tried to seduce him, but he attacked the apparent beauty instead.

• Chu Zeming crushed Fu Hongchen’s Teleportation Jade Token and forced Lu Benxiong and the other disciples to teleport away.
• Chu Zeming picked the Scarlet Scale Fruits while the Crimson Serpent Python nudged him, then rode the python to the third level with Xiao Hei.
• Chu Zeming searched the Ancient Battlefield for the fourth-level entrance while avoiding its ghosts and corpses.
• An illusion transformed the battlefield into a peach-blossom paradise and sent a veiled woman to seduce Chu Zeming.
• Chu Zeming punched the woman, knocked her nose crooked, and slammed her to the ground.

Chu Zeming forced a walking corpse to reveal the entrance to the fourth level, then fought Fu Hongchen while ancient battlefield corpses surrounded them. They escaped through the teleportation array and arrived among the elves, where Yue Lian appeared as their Holy Son.

• Chu Zeming beat the walking corpse until it revealed the hidden entrance to the fourth level and forced it to accompany him.
• Fu Hongchen arrived and attacked Chu Zeming, but they stopped fighting when powerful corpses and resentful spirits surrounded them.
• Fu Hongchen and Chu Zeming rushed toward the teleportation array together and activated it just before a Spirit Severing Realm ghost hand struck them.
• Inside the array, Fu Hongchen and Chu Zeming grappled and tore at each other until they reached the fourth level.
• An old elf told the watching elves that the pair's scuffle was human male mating behavior, and Yue Lian appeared as the elves' Holy Son.

Yue Lian convinced the elves that Chu Zeming was their holy maiden so they could use the Spirit of the Divine Wood to reach the secret realm's summit. As the Elf Tree's restoration ritual began, Chu Zeming found Yue Lian joining him in the Sacred Spring, with the elves insisting that he accept the holy son's blessing.

• Yue Lian had Fu Hongchen bound and imprisoned in a tree cage, then introduced Chu Zeming to the elves as their holy maiden.
• Yue Lian explained to Chu Zeming that he had invented the holy son and holy maiden story to persuade the elves to let them approach the sleeping Spirit of the Divine Wood.
• Xuan Mo, Ling Tian, and Junior Brother Wu watched other cultivators fight over treasures at the Ancient Battlefield while Ling Tian worried about Chu Zeming.
• Fu Hongchen remained imprisoned and blamed Chu Zeming for destroying his jade talisman as Chu Zeming meditated through the night.
• An elf attendant brought Chu Zeming to the Sacred Spring to bathe before the restoration ritual, and Yue Lian entered the spring with him.
• When Chu Zeming threatened to hurt Yue Lian if he came closer, more than twenty elves emerged and urged Chu Zeming to accept the holy son's blessing.

Chu Zeming and Yue Lian restored the ailing Elf Tree after Chu Zeming discovered and burned out a termite infestation. The elves offered to send them to the tenth level and returned their captive, Fu Hongchen.

• The elves pressured Chu Zeming to accept the Holy Son's blessing, while hidden onlookers peeped at him and Yue Lian bathing; Chu Zeming exposed them and drove them away.
• Yue Lian transformed Chu Zeming into an elf, and the old elf led them to the Elf Tree for a ritual to restore it.
• Chu Zeming found termites hollowing out the Elf Tree and burned them all, allowing the tree to recover.
• The elves thanked Chu Zeming and Yue Lian, revealed they had known the pair were not elves, and offered to activate a formation that would send them to the tenth level.
• The old elf returned Fu Hongchen, who was sitting in a tree cage, to Chu Zeming and Yue Lian.

Chu Zeming entered the Forbidden Pavilion on the Divine Wood Realm’s tenth level and endured the ancient powers’ crushing pressure to reach the Immortal Residence treasure. After witnessing his resolve, the twelve lingering thoughts withdrew their pressure and appeared before him, suggesting he might receive more than the treasure.

• Elfkind activated its formation around the Divine Elf Tree, and Chu Zeming and Yue Lian returned to their original appearances while keeping Fu Hongchen imprisoned in a tree cage.
• Chu Zeming entered the Forbidden Pavilion, where the twelve ancient cultivators’ lingering thoughts overwhelmed him with pressure, and Yue Lian fainted after following him inside.
• Chu Zeming recovered outside and charged back into the pavilion, while Yue Lian secretly woke, examined the interior, and strengthened Fu Hongchen’s cage restriction.
• Chu Zeming crawled past the sixth pillar toward the Immortal Residence as the pressure crushed him and blood poured from his wounds.
• The twelve lingering thoughts withdrew their pressure, questioned Chu Zeming about his resolve, and appeared before him after he said the treasure had to be his.

Chu Zeming received the Divine Wood Realm's inheritance, escaped with Yue Lian and Fu Hongchen, and returned to Cangzhou City with the uncontracted Immortal Residence. He threatened to throw the stubborn treasure into a dung pit if it continued to reject him.

• The twelve lingering wills healed Chu Zeming, bestowed their inheritance on him, and warned him that his future enemies would be powerful.
• Chu Zeming tried to contract with the Immortal Residence, but it rejected him, so he put it in his storage space and left with the Teleportation Jade Token.
• Chu Zeming made Fu Hongchen beg for help, then helped Yue Lian up; Yue Lian woke and traded insults with Fu Hongchen.
• The elders at the Divine Wood Realm's entrance questioned the three, and Chu Zeming claimed they had returned from the tenth floor and that he had almost gained the Immortal Residence's acknowledgment.
• Chu Zeming handed Fu Hongchen to the Kongtong Sect disciples, told his sectmates to wait for Xuan Mo and Ling Tian, and returned alone to Cangzhou City.
• At the inn's beast stable, Chu Zeming released Xiao Hei and threatened to throw the Immortal Residence into a dung pit unless it accepted him.

Chu Zeming contracted the Immortal Residence and returned to the Divine Wood Realm entrance, where he confronted Yan Xin for insulting and damaging the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect’s supplies. Yue Lian then revealed three bottles of Spiritual Marrow, leaving the surrounding sects stunned.

• Chu Zeming threatened to throw the Immortal Residence into a manure pit, so it contracted with him inside the beast stable.
• Chu Zeming returned to the Divine Wood Realm entrance and found Yan Xin mocking the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect’s disciples and supplies.
• Yan Xin kicked over the medicines, and Chu Zeming struck her wrist with his sword sheath before letting her attendants carry her away.
• Yue Lian returned and offered Spiritual Marrow to replace the damaged medicine, then produced two more bottles.
• The nearby sects stared in shock at the three bottles of Spiritual Marrow among the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect’s modest supplies.

Yue Lian gave the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect three bottles of Spiritual Marrow, and Xuan Mo, Ling Tian, and Wu Qi returned from the Divine Wood Realm badly injured after reaching the ninth level. At the Joint Grand Tournament’s final rankings, the sect claimed first place through Chu Zeming and also took eighth through tenth, stunning the crowd.

• Yue Lian gave the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect three bottles of Spiritual Marrow, which the disciples displayed proudly to the other sects.
• Chu Zeming watched anxiously as other disciples emerged from the Divine Wood Realm, then welcomed Xuan Mo, Ling Tian, and Wu Qi when they returned injured after reaching the ninth level.
• The disciples used Yue Lian’s Spiritual Marrow to heal their physical wounds, and Chu Zeming led them to Cangzhou City to recover.
• After the Divine Wood Realm trial ended, Chu Zeming brought his junior brothers to the plaza to see the tournament rankings, while Xuan Mo waited on him and Yue Lian fanned him.
• The rankings named Wu Qi tenth, Ling Tian ninth, and Xuan Mo eighth, all from the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect.
• The scroll announced Chu Zeming as first place for obtaining the Ancient Immortal Residence, leaving the crowd astonished.

After the Joint Grand Tournament, Chu Zeming returned to the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect and broke through from the Jindan Peak Stage to the Nascent Soul Realm. He was then summoned before Ling Yunzi and the Heavenly Remnant Sect, where Ling Yunzi ordered him to kneel and apologize to Elder Lu and Lu Benxiong.

• He Wuwei refused to question the disciples about the vanished tenth floor of the Divine Wood Secret Realm, and the Guiyuan Sect elders departed.
• Yan Xin apologized to Chu Zeming and offered to ask her father to accept him as a direct disciple, but Chu Zeming declined and left with his junior brothers.
• Ling Yunzi and the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect elders welcomed the returning disciples and celebrated their tournament results, while Chu Zeming reported the competition to Qin Elder.
• Chu Zeming absorbed the remaining golden light in his body, then used Scarlet Scale Fruits and an Azure-Blue Pearl to break through into the Nascent Soul Realm.
• Law enforcement disciples escorted Chu Zeming to the reception hall, where Ling Yunzi ordered him to kneel and apologize to Elder Lu and Lu Benxiong of the Heavenly Remnant Sect.

Chu Zeming defended himself against accusations from the Heavenly Remnant Sect, then publicly denounced Ling Yunzi for failing him as a master. After Ling Yunzi demoted him to an outer sect menial, Chu Zeming settled into his new home and learned that Xuan Mo would leave the sect with him if he chose to go.

• Ling Yunzi demanded that Chu Zeming kneel and apologize to Lu Benxiong, but Chu Zeming resisted his pressure and explained that Lu Benxiong had provoked him.
• Qin Elder and two disciples arrived, confirmed Chu Zeming's account, and challenged Ling Yunzi and Elder Lu for forcing the dispute.
• Chu Zeming accused Ling Yunzi of neglecting and mistreating him, then renounced his status as Ling Yunzi's foremost disciple.
• Ling Yunzi sentenced Chu Zeming to serve as an outer sect menial and ordered him to move out of his residence.
• Xuan Mo brought books to Chu Zeming's new bamboo hut, and Chu Zeming asked whether he would leave the sect with him.
• Xuan Mo promised that he would leave with Chu Zeming if that day came.

Ling Yunzi was beaten and dumped in a livestock dung pit by Yue Lian, then ordered the sect to find the intruder while Chu Zeming was assigned to patrol the gate. Chu Zeming recognized the black-clad strongman caught at the entrance as Chang Wei, who had come to find him.

• Chu Zeming promised Xuan Mo that he would follow him and witness his rise, while Ling Yunzi divined that a disciple who joined the sect halfway through had great fortune and suspected Chu Zeming had stolen Yue Lian's fortune.
• Yue Lian trapped Ling Yunzi in an artifact sack, beat him unconscious, and left him in a livestock dung pit.
• Xuan Mo told Chu Zeming that Ling Yunzi had been found in the dung pit, and Ling Yunzi ordered the sect to search for the intruder and keep quiet about his humiliation.
• A law enforcement disciple secretly assigned Chu Zeming to patrol the sect gate instead of the back mountain, and Chu Zeming accepted the task.
• Three disciples seized a black-clad man near the gate as a suspected thief, and Chu Zeming recognized him as Chang Wei.

Chang Wei joined the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect to pursue Lian'er, but chose to become an outer sect servant like Chu Zeming rather than take a master. Ling Yunzi tried to recruit Chang Wei as his personal disciple, but Chang Wei rejected him for his poor skincare.

• Chang Wei arrived at the sect wrapped in a black cloak to avoid tanning, and Chu Zeming brought him to his shabby servant hut.
• Chang Wei told Chu Zeming he had left his sect and wanted to join the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect so he could pursue Lian'er.
• Chang Wei registered as an outer sect servant despite his Jindan Peak Stage cultivation and thirteenth-place finish in the previous Joint Grand Tournament.
• Ling Yunzi approached Chang Wei and offered to take him as his personal disciple, but Chang Wei refused because Ling Yunzi knew nothing about beauty and skincare.

Ling Yunzi sent Chu Zeming and Chang Wei to rescue two sect disciples trapped in Torch Dragon Valley, but Qin Elder arranged for four more disciples to join them. Guided by Yue Lian through the Ten Thousand Mountains, the group found the hidden valley and entered its dangerous territory.

• After Chang Wei refused Ling Yunzi's offer of discipleship, Ling Yunzi summoned Chu Zeming and Chang Wei to rescue two trapped disciples in Torch Dragon Valley.
• Qin Elder persuaded Ling Yunzi to send four more disciples, and Chu Zeming chose Ling Tian, Xuan Mo, Wu Qi, and Yue Lian.
• Chang Wei asked Chu Zeming to bring Yue Lian along so he could protect him, and Chu Zeming agreed.
• At a mist-covered fork in the Ten Thousand Mountains, Chu Zeming asked Yue Lian to choose a path, and Yue Lian pointed to the right.
• As the group followed the path, the earth shook and the landscape transformed, revealing the hidden Torch Dragon Valley.
• Chu Zeming sensed danger as the group stood at the entrance to the vast canyon.

Chu Zeming and his companions encountered Qingyin, a Fox Clan demon whose pink mist and seduction techniques put everyone but Yue Lian under her spell. After Yue Lian overpowered Qingyin, Chu Zeming confronted him, and their struggle left them in a compromising position just as the others woke up.

• Qingyin enveloped the entrance to Torch Dragon Valley in poisonous pink mist and seduced Chu Zeming's companions, leaving Chu Zeming only partly affected.
• Qingyin tried to seduce Yue Lian, but he twisted her hand and grabbed her ear, resisting her charms.
• Chu Zeming woke and caught Yue Lian holding Qingyin, prompting Qingyin to flee in her Three-Tailed Fox form.
• Chu Zeming checked Yue Lian for a supposed red mole and tore his robe while trying to inspect him.
• Xuan Mo, Ling Tian, Chang Wei, and Wu Qi woke and saw Chu Zeming pressing Yue Lian down and tearing at his clothes.

Chu Zeming tried to stop his sect brothers from attacking Yue Lian after Yue Lian claimed they had been intimate, while hiding his knowledge that Yue Lian was an ancient immortal. The group set aside their quarrel to travel through Torch Dragon Valley, but Yue Lian told Chu Zeming he only wanted to be with him, and Chu Zeming took out his frustration on Xiao Hei.

• Xuan Mo blamed Yue Lian for taking advantage of Chu Zeming, while Yue Lian claimed Chu Zeming had been carried away and should marry him.
• Xuan Mo and Ling Tian nearly attacked Yue Lian, but Chu Zeming stopped them because he feared Yue Lian would break his seal and kill them all.
• Yue Lian rejected Chang Wei's cloak and said he had become Chu Zeming's man; Chang Wei accepted that he should give them his blessing and urged Chu Zeming to take responsibility.
• Wu Qi joined Yue Lian and Chang Wei's side, and the six sect brothers temporarily put aside their conflict to travel through Torch Dragon Valley.
• Chu Zeming asked Chang Wei when he would leave the sect, but Chang Wei said he would wait until Chu Zeming and Yue Lian were settled together.
• Yue Lian told Chu Zeming he only wanted to be with him, so Chu Zeming angrily beat Xiao Hei.

Chu Zeming fought through Torch Dragon Valley and captured a Man-Faced Owl King, intending to use it to find the trapped disciples. The Owl King woke up tied and injured, then cursed Chu Zeming as a despicable villain.

• Chu Zeming and his juniors fought off swarms of Man-Faced Owls as they entered Torch Dragon Valley.
• Chu Zeming revealed his Nascent Soul Realm cultivation and pursued a Transformation Stage Man-Faced Owl King across the sky.
• Chu Zeming distracted the Owl King with the Luminous Glaze Sword, then had Xiao Hei strike it down with poison.
• Chu Zeming tied up the unconscious Owl King and planned to make it guide them to the trapped disciples.
• The Owl King woke up in human form and called Chu Zeming a despicable, treacherous villain.

Chu Zeming recruited the Man-Faced Owl King to search Torch Dragon Valley and rescued two injured disciples, discovering strange murals in the cave where they were trapped. Back at the sect, he questioned Yue Lian about his identity and the murals, but Yue Lian revealed little and said he wanted to be with Chu Zeming.

• Chu Zeming threatened to pull out the Man-Faced Owl King's remaining hair until the King agreed to help find the missing disciples, and Chang Wei promised to teach him hair care.
• Chu Zeming and the others led groups of Man-Faced Owls in a three-day search and found two badly wounded disciples hiding in a cave.
• Chu Zeming noticed murals resembling those in the Extreme Sea Secret Realm and the Forbidden Pavilion of the Divine Tree before carrying the unconscious disciples out of Torch Dragon Valley.
• Chang Wei and the Man-Faced Owl King parted as sworn brothers, while Chu Zeming's companions returned to cultivate and Yue Lian headed toward the back mountain.
• Chu Zeming pulled Yue Lian into a secret chamber and questioned him about his infiltration, his refusal to ascend, and the murals; Yue Lian said he had no memories, vaguely remembered being told not to ascend, and wanted to be with Chu Zeming.
• When Chu Zeming asked what he liked about him, Yue Lian said he liked Chu Zeming's looks and especially the force in him that disliked Yue Lian.

Chu Zeming answered the Kongtong Sect’s humiliating challenge by fighting its chief disciple, Fu Hongchen, in a fierce Nascent Soul battle. When the dust settled, Chu Zeming stood over the fallen Fu Hongchen and demanded that he admit defeat.

• A disciple told Chu Zeming that Kongtong Sect cultivators had beaten and humiliated Nine-Clear Haoran Sect disciples at the martial arena.
• Chu Zeming arrived and challenged Fu Hongchen, revealing that he had reached the Nascent Soul Early Stage.
• Fu Hongchen attacked Chu Zeming with his Soul-Piercing Cone, and Chu Zeming countered with the Luminous Glaze Sword and his transformed Autumn Water Sword Intent.
• Chu Zeming and Fu Hongchen fought with full force until their battle shattered the platform and the spiritual currents calmed.
• Chu Zeming stood over the fallen Fu Hongchen, planted a foot on his face, and asked whether he admitted defeat.